Contributed by angele. Posted by scott on Friday, December 20, 2002 at 5:57 PM (EST)

Angele Lalonde writes

So here it is - the Bigwig interview. First of all, they do deserve some level of vindication and were very candid about doing this interview for all you guys. For being directly involved in this, I can say after talking this out with Bigwig this incident that before affected my opinion of them, no longer does. They're still the same debonair hard-working guys I've always known them to be. As soon as I saw Tom, the discussion to clear the air began before I could start recording, here's when it started..."

TOM: No one told us about it and someone fucked up, and if that‚??s our tour managers fault and she didn‚??t even tell us about it then that‚??s fucking bullshit. We found out about it from Duncan (booking agent at Union Label) in Montreal. He was like ‚??dude, everyone‚??s pissed‚?? and we were like ‚??what?‚?? and he was like ‚??you denied an interview‚??, we were like ‚??we didn‚??t deny an interview‚??

ANGIE: So, no one, your tour manager, told you about this?

T: We just found out about this at Club Soda, we didn‚??t even know there was an interview offered to us from punknews.org. No clue‚?¶

A: Cause we were sent an e-mail quoting your manager to say that Bigwig doesn‚??t want to do interviews, that you were taking a break from interviews. I was also told that previously a writer was rejected at a show from similar reasons, cause of this‚?¶

T: Busting out on interviews is semi-true, but it wasn‚??t this interview.
We‚??re picking and choosing interviews‚?¶

A: I could see that, I interviewed TFP and there was like 5 kids after me who wanted to do interviews, I was like holy shit what‚??s going, that‚??s a little too much‚?¶

BRENT: There‚??s like honestly just a lot of people who come in and waste our time, they come in with nothing prepared.

JOSH: A piece of paper and a pencil‚?¶

B: Yeah, and they‚??ll come up with the stupidest questions‚?¶

T: Just scratch all that, we just never even heard of this interview to deny it, so‚?¶

A: So you‚??re saying that you would‚??ve, in a heart beat accepted this interview?

T: Yes. We don‚??t give a fuck what people say, that we‚??re doing this cause it‚??s in our best interest, we are doing this cause we want to do this. This is a cool site; I mean everyone bases their fucking shit off this internet site. This is an interview that we want to do, you know something that a bunch of people are going to read, something that punk rock kids all go on.
Not like, some kids fucking 3 page stapled zine that‚??s about veganism and being straight edge which we‚??re not, you know what I mean. Remember that emo zine the other day at the rave?

J: At the rave?

T: Like this total emo zine tries interviewing us and he‚??s just asking all these dumb questions, trying to be all fucking‚?¶

J: Instigating us‚?¶

T: Yeah, instigate us into saying some bullshit story‚?¶

A: Yeah, that does suck. But I was so upset when I first heard you guys said no, it‚??s like hundred bucks out of my pocket booking a day off work to do this, it‚??s for the kids on the site, why would you not want to do it? I mean, I am happy though I‚??m getting to clear this up‚?¶

T: You know us anyways‚?¶

A: That‚??s the thing! When I first heard, I was like fuck this there‚??s no way they‚??d do that?

T: Let me tell you this, Fearless ended up turning down a ‚??Musique Plus‚?? live interview. Like we would have never said no to that! You know what I mean‚?¶

A: Damn, ‚??Musique Plus‚??‚?¶ Okay now, um well, Matt is gone?

T: Yeah.

A: How‚??s that?

T: We miss him, but we are very, very happy and were all on the same page and we‚??re ready to destroy the world now.

A: Was it hard to find a new drummer?

T: We‚??ve known Keith for years, he knew all the stuff we all kind of grew up in the same music scene together and all four of us have been bro‚??s for years all of our old bands used to play with each other. It just kind of worked‚?¶

J: It was pure Darwinism!

T: Yeah, it was natural selection band wise (laughing).

A: Because you guys all played in bands before, Josh was in The Overdrives, what we‚??re you in (Tom)?

T: Peepshow‚?¶

A: Do you think that helped with getting Bigwig so far, gaining experience before and being able to make this last.

T: Yeah, I think everybody in this band has a good knowledge of what we want to do as far as music.

A: Your song ‚??Freegan‚?? are you not vegan?

T: No, I‚??m pretty vegetarian‚?¶

A: What‚??s the meaning behind that song?

T: It‚??s just about getting free leather products. I mean why waste it it‚??s free, I don‚??t think I buy that many leather products.

B: I do, I like belts.

A: And I just found out, I had no idea, that Jim Cherry helped you guys get recognized by Fearless?

T: Yeah, we played a show with Strung Out and he called Bob that night and sent our demo to him and our demo became our record.

J: Didn‚??t he call like while you guys were playing, like straight out Back to The Future?

T: Like literally as soon as we were done playing Jim dragged me to the phone and put me on the phone with Bob‚?¶

A: And Warped tour this year, why the fuck did they have you on the Build It stage I don‚??t think you guys have any say in that anyways‚?¶

B: Actually we were only on it for one day?

A: Okay because I never thought the Build It stage could handle your size of crowd (Mustard Plug incident).

T: Warped Tour‚??s not where or what time you‚??re playing, everybody gets the same rotation. They pick where you‚??re going to be playing at the beginning of the day. It‚??s kind of the luck of the draw for a band our size, which is small.

J: We got booked on the tour last minute too though.

B: And that stage actually really rocked!

J: Yeah, we almost started a riot (laughing)

A: So any new LP‚??s, when will that be happening?

T: Probably, by this summer‚?¶

A: Are you doing any EP‚??s, EP covers?

T: Yeah, we‚??re hoping too, we‚??re hoping to get an EP and a live record.

A: And when do you think that will be?

T: We‚??ll try to get on it in a couple of months.

A: And what direction do you think your sounds going to go?

B: I think I‚??m going to go West‚?¶

T: It will be a lot like the last record, but now we have more writing from everybody. Keith adds a new element to the speed.

A: Cause I‚??m wondering too now you have Brent and Josh the sound will most likely change in a way from what you guys contribute?

B: We‚??re speed freaks, music wise‚?¶ speed freaks.

T: I don‚??t think the sound will change too much except with the addition of everybody‚??s new vocals, we all have the same style still. I think it will get better.

A: Do you think you‚??ll go with Fearless?

T: (long period of silence), the music is going to get better‚?¶ (laughing)

A: So that‚??s as far as we get on that. Do you think Ryan Greene will produce it?

T: I don‚??t know, he said he was going to, I don‚??t know if he still is? I hope so I‚??d love him to though.

A: Did he produce your last record?

T: Well he didn‚??t produce it, he mixed it. We‚??ll probably end up producing this ourselves.

J: And then hopefully he‚??ll mix it again.

A: I heard you write lots of your songs when you‚??re pissed off. Did anything ever drive you to write ‚??Sellout‚???

T: Well, I just the fact that‚?¶ I don‚??t like stadium shows, they‚??re kind of corny, there‚??s way too many people it‚??s too expensive. You know, I kind of like being able to see a band in a small atmosphere.

J: Weezer, case in point, one of our favorite bands, we went to the same show and me and Tom didn‚??t even see each other the whole night, we couldn‚??t even find each other. We had the worst seats it was probably the worst show of my life just because of the crowd.

T: I had to sit down.

J: You couldn‚??t even hear cause it wasn‚??t even loud and the kids around me were screaming and I saw Weezer four or five years prior to that with the Blue Album in a club and there was like three-hundred and fifty kids there it was great.

T: Yeah, I saw them in Jersey, there was like 700 kids and I was right in front of Weezer, it was great.

J: You can‚??t take the two and even try and compare them‚?¶

T: The whole song ‚??Sellout‚?? though it‚??s like kids don‚??t realize that sometimes a band is on the road for a real long time and they may be worn down and miss home blah, blah, blah whatever sob story, but the point is the band is still doing it, you know a lot of bands still do it just for fun and it‚??s not all about money and it‚??s shouldn‚??t be all about money. And then the ‚??food on the table‚?? part is, if you can be in a band and do something you love for the rest of your life and no longer work and it still pays the bills then I think that‚??s fine I think that‚??s okay for a band to make it into their life long, I don‚??t want to call it work but, I guess it‚??s like a hobby, it feels like a hobby‚?¶

J: It‚??s your passion, nobody calls artists who paint or photographers sell-out‚??s because they become famous.

T: The music industry seems like an industry where people just want you to stay down, want you to be poor and eat shit during the duration of your existence, that‚??s kind of lame. You don‚??t necessarily need money to be happy but you know where we grew up just paying the bills is a rough thing as it is. Being in a band and leaving your home and your apartment, your dog, everybody‚??s got responsibilities so you know‚?¶

A: Any European tours in the planning?

T: No not yet, we haven‚??t been to Europe yet.

A: Is any of your stuff being distributed out there?

T: Yeah.

A: How far out is your shit distributed?

T: Everywhere worldwide, we get mail from Japan and Australia, Spain, Italy.

J: It‚??s kind of really our fault in a way cause we don‚??t pursue it cause none of us really like to fly‚?¶

T: Well, the real reason is we‚??re just saving up the suspense.

J: You know but I think at this point I will though. I‚??m ready to do it. I think we all are. So anybody who reads this online and wants to bring us to Europe let us know.

A: Is there anything else you want to let the kids know before we sign off?

J: This is the best interview in a long time.

T: Let‚??s clear up the rest of this scenario. We‚??ve been on tour with the Bosstones‚??s for two months none of us have really gotten the chance to go on-line. I put my personal email on our webpage (www.njbigwig.com) in case anyone needs to get in touch with us for a show or because they‚??re pissed off about something or they have questions, if they want to just bullshit ask the band a question, I return all of our e-mails as soon as I can but sometimes, we‚??re out on tour but it takes a long time sometimes I get like three hundred a week. So if people could just be patient with us and realize that you know, we‚??re touring sometimes with sleep in the RV or the van, we don‚??t get the chance to actually just sit down on a computer all the time, which would be nice and we don‚??t always get hotels so we don‚??t have access. So if people could just be patient and wait till we get home sometimes or write letters. Um, we never denied the interview! We love punknews.org‚?¶

A: So, finally you guys didn‚??t know about the interview, did your tour manager tell you, like now did you know coming here today I‚??d be here?

J: Yes.

T: Oh yeah, we just found out someone was pissed when we went to Montreal. So then I wrote a letter to Scott when I was at Club Soda we set up a computer and I just let him know that we wanted to do the interview and then someone called and said you‚??d be here today. We were psyched. So I understand why everybody‚??s pissed, I would think the same thing about a band but don‚??t believe everything you read and you know we try to do all this shit ourselves we try to stay independent as possible if anybody understands how our band is run and the way we do things it might be a little bit ass backwards but we benefit so we can have control over our band and stay independent‚?¶

It really wierds me out that the bands we report on actually read us. I know its true, we've been told so by all types of people, but it still catches me off guard that bands know who we are.
Cheers to Bigwig for not thinking we're a sissy emo zine. That makes me happy.
adam

I used to love BigWig... way before they got popular. Like the first day that they put out unmerry melodies. But now i think bigwig is not what they used to be. The "real" bigwig ended up with the release of their third album.
I miss the funny drummer, he was the coolest guy of the bands

regardless of the response to the comment above (I guess there always has to be the shit talker in an online post), can see what your saying. Especially with a lot of other bands and their unfortunate 'progression'. But I must say for Bigwig, it does seem that, between Unmerry Melodies to the last one, it's like two different bands. But I like all their albums to date and my hats off to these guys for always putting out great music.

thank you, someone said it! i too use to like bigwig and i loved unmerry melodies. (it's still the best damn cd i've ever heard!) but the new bigwig sounds nothing like the old stuff and it makes me super pissed, that the first band that i absolutely adored just...vanished.
..oh and i'm bummed i never bought the best shirt i've ever seen by them..the 1 w/the car freshner titled ass. plus call me cheap, but i refuse to pay $5 for s+h when i use to pay $2 and get free junk with each order (tees are suppose to cost $10!!)....coughfearlesscough

Ha ha ha, that "emo zine" they're talking about was me. And as for instigating them, before the interview they were reading my zine, oh yeah and telling me how nice it looked and then talking all this shit about Autopilot Off. So, during the interview I asked them what they had against Autopilot Off and as soon as the tape recorder is on they say, "Oh, we never said that." Lame.

I don't think that is neccasarily lame. Obviosly people in bands have opinions on other bands, just like everybody else. The only thing is that as soon as they say something, a big deal is made out of it. I can see why one band would not want to start shit with another band, I guess you are not quite smart enough to figure that one out.

I didn't say they did or didn't suck, but all I was saying is that if a band is gonna talk shit about another band and then say they didn't say it then that's lame. I didn;t come in there and go, "Hey! Talk shit about other bands!" They picked up a copy of my zine, started reading it, and started talking shit about Autopilot Off. They were even saying shit about Fearless Records which is the label they're on which I also thought was kind of lame.

yeah, but you have to keep in mind that bands have opinions of certain things that they would prefer to keep "out of print" so to speak.
if they started talking shit about another band or their record label in an interview that would be a pretty big deal.
just look at the whole midtown fiasco.

If you want to read about bands talking shit about other bands, visit www.belchinwaffles.com and check out the interview with A Static Lullaby. They hate Rufio, and aren't ashamed to admit it! It's awesome, and Belchin' Waffles is a great, smaller webzine!

if any of you had any idea what goes on behind the scenes.....
some of the things that bands do....decisions that they make....and things their labels make them do make the rest of us laugh.
so then they get made fun of. you all poked fun at your fat friend (unless you are the fat friend) or made fun of a handicapped person at one time or another. don't be so quick to crucify.
i like autocooter off. but i think it's hilarious that chris has to wear a hat all the time. want to know why? ask him. i'll bet you'll laugh too if he gives you the real reason.

I know for a fact that they happen to be good friends with Autopilot Off. Anything they were saying was probably joking around, and when you turned on the recorder they probably didn't say anything so you "reporters" dont 'report' it as actual facts. Get a life.

Ha ha ha, if you heard what they said then you'd know taht they're obviously not friends with them. Get a life? My original point was that I was never trying to get them to talk shit in the first place.

hey this is tom. i play in the band. there was no shit talking on fearless. we thought your zine looked nice.....but your interview sucked....now we think you suck ....and your shit-talking emo rag! love, tom

In my interview I asked the EXACT SAME questions that the punknews.org interviewer asked you. All I said was that I never tried to "instigate" you guys into saying anything. Shit talking? how did I ever talk any shit? Oh yeah, I forgot, no one from Bigwig was saying shit about Fearless when you saw thei ad in my zine and they didn't mention your CD in their ad at all. My mistake. Either way I'm not going to print your interview in my zine anyway because I'm sure you guys don't wanna be in some shitty "emo" zine.

there really are people in great bands visiting this site, here from sweden i know that eric and larzon from millencolin visits this site (they actually namechecked punknews.org in an interview recently). And i know that satanic surfers frequently visits this site, the mentioned that on a gig in the uk.

Bigwig is awesome. Plain and simple. Their music rocks, and they do seem like very cool guys, with a lot of heart. Hell, any band that tours that much has to be cranky, and from what I've noticed or ever encountered with the band they seemed all very nice after shows (except their former drummer who when I said nice show to him he just totally ignored me and turned around).
You should of ask more questions though, did you even ask any of the ones from this site besides 2 or 3?
*****Wuss-Emo-Rock*****

bigwig sucks, plain and simple, they just suck they put absolutly no heart into their music, i have no idea where the fuck you come up with this idea you wanna hear some bands that go all out, listen to some deville, glasseater, or thrice thats fucking heart for ya!

This interview is lame. Did anyone notice that more than half the interview is asking them why they didnt want to do the interview? All the interviewer did was whine whine whine and ask them 100 times what the screw up was.

Bigwig still rules.
So does Punknews.org. It's my homepage. Russ Meyer films are also cool, very much like cartoons.
And that haikus aren't as cool as either Bigwig or PunkNews.org. Haiku's like:
Sometimes there are stars
that will shine brighter than you,
but they burn out fast.
Nobody likes haikus anymore. Nobody.
Speed_of_Mind

BULLSHIT!! Tom I told your crappy "tour" manager in Barrie, Ontario about the fuck-up that is/was this interview!
I said nothing to Duncan because he deserves that like the person that he is. STICK WITH NANCY, SHE KICKS ASS!!!
Robbie V.
ps I never received a "Thank You" for putting on the show that was supposed to go on in Toronto, which I might add I lost a bunch of money on. I can't believe that the band was totally thankless!!! However, the kids were extremely happy and thats all that matters!!!
seenmagazine@hotmail.com

Wow, Robbie. That was very impressive. Crappy tour manager...heh! If I was to be childish, I would say that you were a crappy promoter, but I did not choose to do so. And if you fail to recall, I will remind you. I thanked you on NUMEROUS occasions for the shows. So open your ears before you flap your jaws. Its a good thing to do. Another good thing to do is know what you are talking about before you put your nose in unfamiliar territory. Duncan is amazing at what he does by the way. Please tell your father I said hello, he is great too!
Just my two cents on the matter.
Dawn

TO DAWN,
Were you not at this show? If so, why did you never go up to the interviewer to clear the air with him? No instead you hid away, from what I got from this interview and left it up to Tom to cover for your ass...
For a tour manager you represent this band and should do so to your fullest... You should have cleared up this situation but rather instead you handled it to the least of you abilities.
You will and have, if you keep this up re-trench Bigwig as a band... You forgot the most important thing when running a band, the fucking fans! Just to remind you yes, they do matter and they're the reason why you have a job in this industry, pls don't let who you know go to your head and smile sometimes...

they never told us why they kicked matt out.
it's cause he figured out he was owed money, then they had him sign a contract that he could keep the money if he stayed in the band. then they kicked him out. fuck you tom.
punknews.org still rules.

You have no idea what you are talking about. Stop starting rumors. You have no idea what went on between the band and Matt.Only them and Matt and a few people know exactly what happened. I have heard both sides and both sides match up. Dont open your mouth if you dont know what happened for a fact!

Tom had an interesting response to the question about what label they're going to be on when it comes time for a new album. Of course, they put their first album out on Fearless, their second on Kung Fu, and their third back on Fearless. But they really don't seem to have much of an interest or anything positive to say about Fearless Records and have just side-stepped the issue. That basically leads one to think that they're don't really want to be on Fearless anymore and that they're shopping around for a new label. I can't blame them. I didn't think that the band and the label are a good match, but it would be interesting to hear more from the band about their current status with record labels and to hear what Fearless Records has to say about it all. I can't imagine that the label is happy with a band on their roster taking the "not-so-interested-in-being-there" attitude. But... nonetheless, Bigwig must rock on. Their shows with The Bosstones were a lot of fun and their approach to the older songs gives a lot of hope for what the new group will come up with for new material. Someone on a Bigwig post a while ago said that they thought that maybe Fat or Jade Tree would be better label matches for the band. I think that I agree.

Hey Scott,
I understand why you have questioned my sobriety when I said maybe Jade Tree would be a good home for Bigwig, but consider... Jade Tree has had the rock in the hardest way: Kid Dynamite. The label is pretty diverse and has a lot of stuff that I just don't really listen to or think would be a good match for "labelmates" to Bigwig: Denali or Jets to Brazil or whoever. BUT... I don't think that a label has to have a lineup of bands that all fit in the same genre or would play a good cohesive show together. And I think Jade Tree approaches their label that way. They've put out a pretty interesting array of albums over the past few years. That being said... look at JT bands like Kid Dynamite (RIP) or Strike Anywhere. Jade Tree has had and been successful with harder and faster bands, and bands that are more socially conscious or political, which is the direction that Bigwig has consistently been maturing and growing towards for years. I think the label could be great for Bigwig, but that's about it. This is all assuming that the weird relationship with Fearless means that Bigwig's next album will be on a new label. Anyway, I'd be interested to know what you think is important in matching bands with labels and specific to Bigwig, what labels you would see making a good home for the band. Thanks.

yeah. that guy made a pretty good case for why jade tree would be a good match. i love kid dynamite + strike anywhere, but never really thought of jt as a label that met my tastes or would be good for a ass kicking band like bigwig. i bow to the guy a few posts up and stand corrected

buddy. you never said how you knew about a new album in june. there is nothing about a new album on either the band website or on fearless's website. also, the band has basically been touring straight for the past few months. so, forgive me if i think you're full of shit.

Bigwig's new website will be up in a few days. Can't wait to hear news about the new album. Rumors for new label include:
1. Fat Wreck
2. Jade Tree
3. Side One Dummy
Turn that shit up to 11. This band is going to rock out.

are you kidding me Angele? Seriously, fuck off. 2/3 of that interview was you asking the same goddamn question about why they didn't accept your interview. You get it, they get it, we get it. there was a mix up. fucking hell, you just wasted so much time instead of asking good questions. you asked shit too.
was no one else annoyed by this? fuck.